The Storm

by Effrosyni Moschoudi

  Bless the moon that yearns Your blue to gain

  Bless Your waves that come to take me far.

  Chapter 45

  Sofia didn’t waste any time. The next morning, she called Danny and asked to meet him. The revelations of the previous night had overwhelmed her. She hardly caught a wink all night long as she tried to decide on the best course of action. Summing up all she knew, both from the visit at the clairvoyant and from what Maggie told her, Danny needed a wake-up call. It was clear he had to know all about Christian and Laura. This was the only way for him to see they were meant to be together, for him to give her his all.

  Although things had started to be perfect between them, since visiting Maggie he’d freaked out so much he was acting strange again and refused to talk about that visit.

  Finally, Danny accepted to meet Sofia at the park. When he joined her at their usual bench, he seemed preoccupied and edgy. He left a peck on Sofia’s lips and put an arm around her, but the lack of fervour on his part was palpable.

  “What’s the matter? You don’t seem happy.”

  Danny rubbed his eyes, then yawned. “Haven’t been sleeping too well . . .”

  “Oh, why is that?”

  “If you must know, it’s that damn visit we paid your lunatic friend. Haven’t had a decent night’s sleep since then. It’s creepy. I keep having strange dreams.”

  Sofia’s face lit up despite herself, then she gave a frown to conceal her hopes. “What dreams?”

  “Mixed up things. The old woman, her son, that damn scarf she handed me, you, me, and the West Pier. One insane mixture that has me waking up in cold sweat every night, although I can't remember much, once I open my eyes.”

  Sofia unbuttoned the top of her coat, revealing the brown scarf in question. The Lady’s voice inside her head had grown insistent since the previous day, urging her to get Danny to wear the scarf, even for a few seconds. The voice said it would help him to remember. Sofia had arranged to meet him, determined to make it happen.

  Danny recoiled at the sight of the blood-stained scarf. Sofia was holding it in her hands, her eyes twinkling with purpose.

  “She gave it to you? And you’re wearing it? What on earth for?” Danny jerked away from Sofia along the bench, his eyes wide. “Take that thing away from me! I told you it gives me the willies!”

  “But, Danny, it’s just a scarf. What are you so afraid of?”

  “It’s covered in blood stains, Sofia! Someone’s died wearing it. I’m surprised you’re asking.”

  Sofia tutted. “A full-grown man like you, scared of a little thing like that? Really! Come on Danny, put it around your neck for a moment. I want to see something.”

  “No way! But out of curiosity, why are you asking me this?”

  “I want you to do this as a favour to me. What if I told you that it’s really important? That it’s the only way you can prove to me that you love me?”

  “You know I love you, Sofia . . . What does this damned thing have to do with it?”

  “Danny . . . sometimes we must do crazy things, irrational things . . . in order to test ourselves, our limits, and our loyalties to others. Do you believe that?”

  “Yes . . . of course, I do.”

  “Well, let me just say that I’ve had to do a lot of crazy things, I’ve had to deal with a lot of irrational situations to be here today, with you. Loving you, being your girl.”

  Danny knitted his brows. “You did? How do you mean?”

  “It doesn’t matter, Danny. Listen, can you just take my word for it? It’s very hard to explain. But I promise you, if you do this little thing for me and wear the scarf, even for a few moments, it’ll mean the world to me. It’ll mean you love me and would do anything for me. Even if it terrifies you. Even if it scares the living daylights out of you. Isn’t this how we get everything we want from life? By overcoming our fears? Well, try to overcome this one, Danny . . . for me.”

  Danny eyed her, aghast. It was embarrassing for a man to show weakness, he knew that, but that scarf made his skin crawl. Still, her eyes were pleading and he loved her so. “Oh, all right. But only for a moment.”

  Sofia rubbed her hands together when Danny took the scarf, putting it around his neck, over his coat, while cringing with repulsion. Sofia gave a titter, then took his hands in hers and gave him a long, tender kiss that made her weak at the knees. When they pulled apart, Danny seemed frozen. Only his eyelids fluttered slightly, but his eyes were glassy, his body rigid. Despite the startled gasp Sofia gave, he remained silent, staring into space.

  “Danny? Danny, what is it? Talk to me!” Sofia shook him by the shoulders, but to no avail.

  And then, an incredible thing happened. Danny’s face began to glow, but not the way it does when you’re happy or excited; it literally glowed, and a halo of sparkling, shimmering light appeared all around him. His expression changed and, from being vacant, it turned exultant. Sofia watched, aghast, and she took his hand to rub it fiercely, willing him to turn and look at her. The expression of bliss left his face and, as the aura disappeared around him, he scowled, then gave a mighty cry. “Aaaaaarrgh!”

  Danny blinked a few times, then his eyes finally focused on Sofia. He was panting now, his eyes alive with dread. He brought one hand to his neck and removed the scarf, throwing it to the ground. As he sprang to his feet, Sofia bent over to pick it up.

  “Leave that thing! Throw it away!” shouted Danny, gesticulating madly with both hands. “It’s evil! What did you do to me?”

  “What are you talking about? What happened, Danny?” Sofia dusted the scarf with tender strokes, then put it around her neck.

  “How can you wear it? It—”

  “Tell me, Danny! I want to know! What made you freeze like that? What happened?”

  Danny kept shaking his head and looking around, his eyes full of alarm. He kept touching his face, running his hand through his hair, his breathing erratic. Sofia hugged him and led him to sit back down with her. Now, he was shaking all over.

  “Sofia . . . I swear, that thing is demonic. This woman, is she a witch? What did she do to me? Did she throw something in the tea?”

  Sofia chuckled and squeezed him closer against her, then rubbed his back. “No, she’s not a witch, my love. Maggie cares for us. For both you and me.”

  “But this scarf . . .”

  “Tell me, what did you see just now?”

  Danny shook his head and jumped to his feet. “I can't. I can’t, all right? This is too weird for me. I am a level-headed guy. I warn you, Sofia! If you want to be with me, stay away from witches and the like! This stuff gives me the creeps!”

  “She’s not a witch, Danny. Please listen to me!” she shouted as he started to walk away.

  “Get rid of that thing, Sofia. I don’t ever want to see it again!” he cried out as he strode away on his own, his expression livid.

  ***

  That same afternoon, Sofia dialled Danny’s number. Sue’s voice sounded apprehensive. “Oh, hi, Sofia. How are you?” It was a mere whisper.

  “Hi, Sue. So and so. I had a tiff with Danny, to tell you the truth. I’m calling to try to patch things up . . . Is he there?”

  Sue tutted. “Oh, Sofia . . . I’m sorry. He said to tell you he’s not here, if you call. But he’s in his bedroom, sulking. What on earth happened? I thought you guys had worked things out.”

  Sofia’s eyes darted to her watch. “I’ll catch the next bus. Don’t tell him I’m coming over.”

  ***

  Sofia arrived at Danny’s house within the hour. Sue wanted to stand in the hall and hear all about their fight, but Sofia couldn’t chat. She was in a hurry to do what The Lady asked her. Her voice had grown strong and loud inside her head, and she kept expressing demands that Sofia felt compelled to obey. She trusted that voice blindly to lead her to utter bliss. The voice promised it was going to be all right. She had no reasons to doubt it after all the craziness that had happened already.

  Sofia left
Sue in the living room and climbed the stairs in a hurry. She knocked on Danny’s bedroom, and when he responded she opened it to find him on his bed listening to music. He looked so serene, his cheeks flushed against his pasty skin, his blue eyes sparkling. He seemed angelic. A pang of guilt pinched her heart for a moment, at the thought of what she was about to do. The voice had said it was going to be difficult for Danny, but it had to be done.

  “Sofia . . . I wasn’t expecting you,” said Danny removing the headphones from his ears. He gestured for her to come and sit on the chair by the bed. He was civil but nothing like his usual chirpy self whenever he saw her.

  Sofia sat and gave a long sigh, then left her bag on the floor. “I wanted to apologise about earlier—”

  Danny stood and placed his hands on his hips. “Why do I have the impression you don’t mean it?”

  “I didn’t come here to fight, Danny.”

  “So, what did you come here for?”

  “I want to know what happened.”

  “Why don’t you ask that witch friend of yours? What’s wrong with you, girls? Messing with this stuff! It’s dangerous! What did she do to me?” He shook Sofia by the shoulders. “Did she give me some kind of concoction to mess with my mind? I demand to know! Did you or that witch have anything to do with those psychedelic nightmares I’ve been having?”

  “Please, Danny! Nobody is messing with your mind and, for the last time, Maggie is not a witch. I swear! But yes, something strange is going on. I tried to tell you at the park. There is a lot of craziness in my life. And it all started when I met you.”

  “What craziness? What are you referring to?” Danny sat back on the bed, trying to control this odd mix of fear and anger that consumed him.

  “Danny, what if I told you that I’ve been haunted by a spirit ever since I met you in Vassilaki?”

  “A spirit? What on earth?”

  “Not just a spirit, Danny. It’s The Lady of the Pier. I’ve been seeing her in my dreams ever since.”

  “What? Are you insane? That’s an urban myth!”

  “Oh, I beg to differ! Loula told me The Lady has been visiting you in your dreams too. Don’t try to deny it!”

  Danny stared back at her, lost for words for a moment or two, then his eyes lit up. “Steve! Again, Steve! He went and told her. Can't the damn idiot keep anything to himself? It was just a stupid dream, Sofia!”

  “But it happened the night I brought you the brown scarf for your birthday, didn’t it? Loula told me! And I bet The Lady didn’t just visit you that one time, did she?”

  “Sofia, that’s absurd. I have dreams of you, not of some spirit! And there’s nothing crazy about that!”

  “Danny, that’s not me, that’s The Lady of the Pier! I see her too but not just in my dreams. I’ve seen her many times on the West Pier and right in front of my eyes. She wears black in your dreams, right? And you always see her on the Pier?”

  Danny nodded, aghast.

  “Well, you think it’s a coincidence? Tell me, did she mention the name ‘Christian’ to you at all?”

  “How . . . How did you know that? I didn’t tell Steve that!”

  “Danny, what if I told you that I am the reincarnation of that spirit and you are Christian’s?”

  “Are you mad?”

  “Listen!” Sofia went to sit beside him on the bed, taking his hand in hers, gazing into his eyes, her lips trembling. “Please, Danny, listen for a moment. The Lady of the Pier was called Laura. The man she loved, Christian, was murdered by someone called Charles. Charles was a horrible, horrible man, who held Laura prisoner for many ways. All Laura ever wanted was to be with Christian, but Charles did all he could to stop that. When Laura and Christian attempted to run away together, Charles found out and shot Christian dead. Laura was wearing that brown scarf when Christian drew his last breath, and before he did, they promised each other to meet again in another lifetime.”

  Danny was calm and listening, this time willingly, with a lot of interest. So much of what Sofia had said rang a bell from fractions of dreams he recalled, from so many disturbing nights as he tossed and turned in his bed. “Are you saying that this old woman, this new friend of yours, knows all this and told you?”

  “Yes. She was Laura and Christian’s best friend. And yes, she told me everything. But it all started from The Lady herself . . . from the dreams, the poems she gave me, and then all the things she did to guide me. She made it all happen, Danny. You found your mother again at the right time too, because of her. I found Ricky and Maggie because of her, too. She is real.”

  “Is that how you call her? ‘The Lady’?”

  Sofia nodded, taking heart.

  “And what does she want from us?”

  “She wants us to know. To know about her and Christian. That we are them. That being together has been pre-arranged. That it’s a promise of eternal bliss for us. That we were meant to be together the moment their souls attached themselves to our two mortal bodies. It is those souls inside us that make our love so strong, Danny. It’s what made you seek and find me in Vassilaki. Once, you gave me the strength to fight my own fears, which brought me to Brighton. Now, it’s my turn to do the same thing for you.”

  Danny was speechless. All he could do was gaze back at Sofia, his lips parted, his eyes feverish.

  “So tell me, Danny, tell me. What happened this morning when you wore the scarf? Please?”

  Danny gave a long sigh. “This is the Twilight Zone, Sofia. This is just too much for me.”

  “Just tell me.”

  Danny heaved a long sigh. “Well, the moment I put that scarf on and you kissed me, it was like I was transported to a different time and place. And that place was the West Pier, decades ago. We were no longer in the park, Sofia. We were on the West Pier deck, feeding starlings and seagulls! Our clothes were different, we both looked different! More carefree, like this was all we ever wanted to do: to be on the Pier together. It was like the promise of eternal bliss, of paradise.”

  “I saw you freeze, Danny, so I believe it. You seemed ecstatic.”

  “Well, not for long! Because then, our surroundings changed again. It was night time and we were on the promenade by the Pier. This time we were older, much older, and I had trouble walking properly. There was you and me, a couple of men, and a small child. And then another man came. He was livid with me for some reason I didn’t understand. We fought and then . . . he shot me in the back, the bullet exiting through my chest. He shot me, Sofia! It was real! I felt the pain, the surge of hot blood gushing from the wound. I saw you crying, pressing the scarf on my chest to try to stop the blood . . . And then, darkness. That’s when I came round again and yanked the thing off me.”

  “So, The Lady has already shown you. I don’t need to tell you how Christian died. Or should I say . . . how you died?”

  Danny jolted upright and paced up and down the room. “This is too much for me.”

  “Why can't you just accept it? It’s real, Danny! You said it yourself.”

  “But we love each other already. Why is all this necessary? Why do we have to know about this old story?”

  “I don’t know that. But from what I’ve come to understand, there’s something else that needs to be done.”

  Danny returned to sit on the bed, his expression alight with dread. “What else is there?”

  “Danny, to understand The Lady you must try to think of her the way I do: as an angel of guidance and of justice . . . She’s here to restore equilibrium. I think she’s trying to right all the wrongs.”

  “So what else is there for her to accomplish before she can leave us alone?”

  “I don’t know, Danny. But she promises it’s the very last thing.”

  “Right. And now, what, Sofia? What do we do with all this? I’m finding it very hard to process this madness!”

  “All I came here to do is tell you the truth. Now, I have done it, I am done.” Sofia stifled a yawn, then turned to Danny with soulful eyes. “Sor
ry. Will you get us a cuppa? I am so thirsty . . . Afterwards, I thought,” she shrugged and gave a sweet smile, "we could listen to music and cuddle on the bed, if you like.”

  Danny was out like a flash, propelled by the promise of lying in bed together with her. As soon as he left, Sofia took Christian’s old scarf from her bag and tossed it under the bed. That was what The Lady had asked her to do, and she promised it was the very last thing.

  Sofia lay on the bed and took a deep breath, her lips curving into an easy smile. The promise of happiness was doing wonders to ease her sense of guilt for putting the scarf under the bed secretly from Danny. She only hoped whatever it was supposed to do, that it wasn’t going to be too hard for Danny to endure.

  Chapter 46

  Danny stood outside the Concert Hall on the West Pier. Even as he dreamt, he realised this wasn’t real. In front of him stood Sofia, her hair a fiery red, even more than in real life. Her eyes were trained on him, dancing with delight, and her laughter reached his ears like angel music. She was dressed in a breathtaking gown, and he was dressed to match, in a smart dinner jacket. Dance music echoed from the Hall, hanging eerily in the cold night air.

  And yet, they felt no chill as they danced, cheek to cheek, their hearts soaring. Then, the music got louder and louder; it became a cacophony, hurting their ears with its sharp notes. A man with menacing eyes came from behind Danny and pulled Sofia away. Now, Danny’s feet were glued to the ground. All he could do is watch the man pull Sofia away as she wailed and begged. Her arms were held out open towards Danny, begging him to come and rescue her, but his feet were glued to the deck still, and all he could do was stare with dread, knowing the man was going to hurt her and never set her free.

  Danny woke up in a cold sweat. What a nightmare! He pressed his hands to his face, then shook his head. It felt heavy. The memory of the dream was vivid inside his head, unbearable, causing him to shiver. The man’s features were harsh, full of hate, the glint in his eyes terrifying.

  Danny took a sip from the glass of water on his bedside table, then lay back down. He closed his eyes and turned on his side. He’d had enough of restless nights, but tonight was no surprise, after all the strange things Sofia told him. He didn’t know what to believe, except that he couldn’t just dismiss them.